London to Cape Town record - 50th anniversary

This is just to let you know that it was on January 6th, 1963 that my dad, Eric Jackson, and Ken Chambers set off from Pall Mall in London to begin their attempt to break the London to Cape Town record. Here's a photograph of them just before they set off.

I've written a quick blog post too and I hope to be adding one daily for the next two weeks.Here's the link.

Yes, they did. They car had a scheduled stop at Hughes of Nairobi, the Ford Dealership. It was owned by Peter Hughes who was himself a rally driver with several successes in Fords. (I believe he won the East African Safari in a Cortina. My dad says that their couldn't have completed the trip without the help they received from Hughes - the car was in a very bad way by that time. I'm not sure when they arrived there but I'll check my dad's old passport and see if that gives any clues.

I checked the passport and other info and all I can tell you is that they entered Kenya on January 16th, according to the passport stamp. They arrived in Cape Town just before midnight on January 19th. Can you let me know more about the Manussis record? I'm always interested in African driving records. Thanks!

I know two-fifths of next to nothing about African long distance records which was why I asked. Some were officially timed and some were, well, shall we say unofficial.

From a Roger Barnard's Safari Rally - the First 40 years I have:

In 1936 a road race of nearly 3,000 miles was organised from Nairobi to Johannesburg. The winner was C L 'Fairy' Engelbrecht who became a regular competitor in the Coronation Safari two decades later. The challenge of this journey, and the longer 'Narobi to Cape Town' and 'Cape to Cairo' routes, was taken up by a number of motorists, some of whom set unofficial 'records' for the fastest times.....Eric Cecil and Frank Marek set an unofficial record, in a Skoda [!], for the journey from Nairobi to Cape Town and back in 1950. Nairobi was about to be granted its City Charter and Cecil took letters of greeting from the Mayor of Nairobi, Richard Woodley, to the mayors of cities along the route, picking up the replies on the return journey.Cecil's cousins, Neil and Donald Vincent, resoundingly beat the 'record' in a well-organised attempt in a Vauxhall Velox (to be beaten, in turn, by Arthur Burton / Derek Shepherd - and finally by John Manussis and Peter Davies)

And that's as much as I know. I believe one of these 'records' was set using, of all cars, a Morris Minor.

All of the above drivers, except Frank Marek, later featured strongly in the results of the Safari.

Peter Hughes was the son of John Hughes, an Irishman who had set up Hughes Ltd with the stated ambition of putting "A Ford on every farm". His best Safari performance was winning the 1964 event but his other results included a couple of class wins - all in Ford cars, naturally.

Thank you for the information Tim, sad though it is. I don't think my dad is aware of this - he and Peter Hughes were good pals back in the sixties. There's a photograph of them together in my dad's book - I'll find it and post it here. My dad says that he always referred to Peter as 'the Reverend' because of his beliefs. I'll send the information from the link to England for him to read.

Thank you Tim! By the early seventies my dad was approaching fifty years old - no wonder they called him 'the great-granddaddy of rallying'! I'm still looking through my photograph collection to find the original of the one above. But I found this.

Well, I found the original and written on the back was .... nothing at all! The photograph is in the book but not captioned so the mystery remains. (I mean, the mystery of why I thought it was Peter Hughes!)

As you can tell the photograph above was taken at the Salute of Champions in Cortina d'Amprezzo in 1965. Here's another. Who do you recognise Only two of them for me!

Have always struggled with other versions of that photo to identify many. Some who were there are missing from the photo? Bosse Lungfeldt is one who, like Gilbert Staepelaere, may not be too familiar to some these days. (Alan Mann insists in the new Tony Dron AM biography that he was never known as Bo)
I think the Cortina is AVW199B, David Seigle-Morris' 1964 loan car (and not one of those damaged on the bob run) that appears in other photos.

Mention of the Seven Dales above reminds me I inadvertently commented to Jackie today, in connection with a separate matter, that Eric Jackson "won" the 1968 Dales, rather than "did" the 68 Dales (well, at least it was another of the Yorkshire maffia who won it that year!).

Mention of the Seven Dales above reminds me I inadvertently commented to Jackie today, in connection with a separate matter, that Eric Jackson "won" the 1968 Dales, rather than "did" the 68 Dales (well, at least it was another of the Yorkshire maffia who won it that year!).

Interesting note: My dad told me when he called today that he's had several interesting phone conversations recently with Philip Young who is making the record attempt (but upside down) next month. I'd love to tell you more but my phone's batteries conked out!

Well, I found the original and written on the back was .... nothing at all! The photograph is in the book but not captioned so the mystery remains. (I mean, the mystery of why I thought it was Peter Hughes!)

As you can tell the photograph above was taken at the Salute of Champions in Cortina d'Amprezzo in 1965. Here's another. Who do you recognise Only two of them for me!

Never forget that Eric Jackson's 'Finest Hour' (quite unsung at the time) was that he offered up his own car's cylinder head to keep Roger Clark's crippled Lotus-Cortina in contention to win the London-Sydney Marathon of 1968. No-one compelled him to do it, but he apparently just offered. A wonderful gesture and it might, just might, have worked.

This is not a secondhand 'I read it in a magazine' comment, by the way - I knew Roger very well, and he always said he could not believe what was being done for him ....

That's certainly not the way EJ remembers it in his book!
EJ's contention that his own car was a better bet for overall victory at that particular point seems entirely credible, given the known weaknesses of the Lotus Cortina, including it's "English" axle that subsequently "did for" R. Clark.
Maybe Clark genuinely thought that but EJ's existing opinion of Henry Taylor seems to have been re-inforced by that event. (How would you already feel if Ford's Comps Manager had previously virtually accused you of theft of a shell you'd bought from him to enable you to win the RAC Rally Championship and for which he'd signed a receipt himself?)

AAGR, I'd love to think that my dad gave up the cylinder head out of the goodness of his heart, but RS2000 is right, it was Henry Taylor's decision. My dad is one of the nicest blokes you could ever wish to meet but when it came to motorsport, he was in it to win.

He told me that he didn't argue though because of the team but to this day, he claims that he had a better chance than Roger.

But I'm certainly not doubting what you say AAGR. My dad still refers to Roger as 'a great bloke' and it's very possible that he gives the credit to my dad rather than Henry Taylor.

There are quite a few stories in the book that set the record straight

Never forget that Eric Jackson's 'Finest Hour' (quite unsung at the time) was that he offered up his own car's cylinder head to keep Roger Clark's crippled Lotus-Cortina in contention to win the London-Sydney Marathon of 1968. No-one compelled him to do it, but he apparently just offered. A wonderful gesture and it might, just might, have worked.

This is not a secondhand 'I read it in a magazine' comment, by the way - I knew Roger very well, and he always said he could not believe what was being done for him ....

AAGR

That's certainly not the way EJ remembers it in his book!EJ's contention that his own car was a better bet for overall victory at that particular point seems entirely credible, given the known weaknesses of the Lotus Cortina, including it's "English" axle that subsequently "did for" R. Clark. Maybe Clark genuinely thought that but EJ's existing opinion of Henry Taylor seems to have been re-inforced by that event. (How would you already feel if Ford's Comps Manager had previously virtually accused you of theft of a shell you'd bought from him to enable you to win the RAC Rally Championship and for which he'd signed a receipt himself?)

AAGR, I'd love to think that my dad gave up the cylinder head out of the goodness of his heart, but RS2000 is right, it was Henry Taylor's decision. My dad is one of the nicest blokes you could ever wish to meet but when it came to motorsport, he was in it to win.

He told me that he didn't argue though because of the team but to this day, he claims that he had a better chance than Roger.

But I'm certainly not doubting what you say AAGR. My dad still refers to Roger as 'a great bloke' and it's very possible that he gives the credit to my dad rather than Henry Taylor.

There are quite a few stories in the book that set the record straight

I suppose that Eric Jackson could have said "No" to Henry Taylor's request, but ...

I suppose that Eric Jackson could have said "No" to Henry Taylor's request, but ...

It seems he just put it behind him and moved on. Contrast that with the conduct of one C. McRae when faced with a major team orders situation, petulantly kicking dustbins and having to be seriously counselled by his father. The difference between someone (EJ)experienced in life before he got to the top in rallying and someone (like so many current racing drivers too) who had no real experience of life beyond motorsport.

Difficult to actually say no when it's not your car. With the book's editor on here, I'm not about to post a lot of extracts concerning Henry Taylor but suffice it to say there is one priceless quote from EJ and a further one that perfectly fits the term: "damning someone with faint praise"!

It seems he just put it behind him and moved on. Contrast that with the conduct of one C. McRae when faced with a major team orders situation, petulantly kicking dustbins and having to be seriously counselled by his father. The difference between someone (EJ)experienced in life before he got to the top in rallying and someone (like so many current racing drivers too) who had no real experience of life beyond motorsport.

Difficult to actually say no when it's not your car. With the book's editor on here, I'm not about to post a lot of extracts concerning Henry Taylor but suffice it to say there is one priceless quote from EJ and a further one that perfectly fits the term: "damning someone with faint praise"!

Well, allowing for the fact that this forum is on UK time and I'm in Florida, it was fifty years ago today that my dad and Ken Chambers arrived in Cape Town. If you don't know whether or not they broke the record, this gives the game away:

What I love is the part of the book that goes some way towards explaining the chaos when they arrived in Cape Town.

“I yanked the steering wheel to the left. Ken yelled at me ‘Watch out! Don’t drive into that bloody great hole…’ It was too late. The road ahead had been dug up and of course, there were no warning signs. I landed the poor old Cortina in a water-filled hole. It was going no further that night. Ken leaned over and jammed his hand onto the horn to get attention. He gave me a look and congratulated me on my driving. ‘Jacko’ he said ‘You stupid pillock.’”

Well, allowing for the fact that this forum is on UK time and I'm in Florida, it was fifty years ago today that my dad and Ken Chambers arrived in Cape Town. If you don't know whether or not they broke the record, this gives the game away:

What I love is the part of the book that goes some way towards explaining the chaos when they arrived in Cape Town.

“I yanked the steering wheel to the left. Ken yelled at me ‘Watch out! Don’t drive into that bloody great hole…’ It was too late. The road ahead had been dug up and of course, there were no warning signs. I landed the poor old Cortina in a water-filled hole. It was going no further that night. Ken leaned over and jammed his hand onto the horn to get attention. He gave me a look and congratulated me on my driving. ‘Jacko’ he said ‘You stupid pillock.’”

Which I suppose goes to show a sense of humour gets you everywhere, happy 50th Anniversary on your London Cape Town record Eric & Ken

i came back onto this site to give some sad news .Ken Chambers son Ian ,who i got in contact with Jackie a few years back in relation to this book, has sadly died.his funeral is tomorrow.i have sent a private message to Jackie but not sure if she comes on here that often so thought i'd post it here too as someone else could let her know.thanks Martin.